Cotton cleaner



May28,1929. LH NCO K' 1.114.953

COTTON CLEANER Filed Oct 11. 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l May 28, 1929. w. HANCOCK COTTON CLEANER 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed 001,

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k C o M l M U M @7 F W. L. HANCOCK COTTON CLEANER May 28, 1929.

Filed Oct. 11, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 28, 1929.

tree stares" WILLIAM L. HANCOCK, or DALLAS, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR To THE MURRAY-COMPANY,

01? DALLAS, TEXAS, A CQRPORATTON OF TEXAS.

oorron CLEANER.

Application filed October 11, 1928. Serial No. 311,799.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in cotton cleaners.

One object of the invention is to provide a cotton cleaner which will include improved features making for greater capacity, flexibility, ease of operation .and bettergradcs as well as reducing the lire hazard.

An important object of the invent-ion is'to provide a cleaner wherein the cotton will be handled out of the air suction line or conveyor, but under an air suction produced in the cleaner casing together with air agitating drums, which will free the bearings from lint, more efficiently carry off the lint dust and lighter particles and also act to extinguish fires in the cleaner.

Another object of the invention is to provide perforated concave screens in place of the wire mesh screens common in this rt. The usual wire mesl. screens have a. more or less rough surface and tend to tear and disintegrate the lint, thus lowering its grade; whereas a perforated metal concave screen will soon Wear smooth so that the cotton lint will freely pass thereover withoutinjury.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a cleaner with a series of by passes whereby the cotton may be carriedthrough the cleaner casing without being acted upon thereby; or whereby it may be passed around one set of drums and acted upon by the sec.-

ond set; or whereby it may be acted upon by both sets of drums.

A const-ruct'on designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a cotton cleaner constructed in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 is a detail of the concave screens,

Fig. 3 is an isometrical view of one end of one of the drums,

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line l-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail showing one of the bearing inlets.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of one side of the cleaner showing the belt drive, and

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the other side of the cleaner showing the belt drive.

inatic system to the outer air is used and the cotton is dropped into the hopper of the cleaner. The cotton to be cleaned may, how ever, be fed to the cleaner in any way desired, by hand if necessary, as the means by which the cotton is introduced into the machine has no effect upon the operation of the machine. In the drawin s the numeral 10 designates a sheet metal casing supported on legs 11, the details of which are subject to variation and are not claimed as a part of the invention.

The casing as a whole is disposed at an angle to the perpendicular whereby its bottom 12 is inclined downwardly to a bottom discharge hopper 13. At the upper end or apex of the casmg is a transverse hopper 14 which flares outwardly and downwardly from its mouth. A transverse valve or damper 15 is.

pivoted longitudinallyof the hopper at the bottom thereof so that its top edge maybe swung to either side of the mouth of the hopper and thus deflect the :inflowing cotton to the front or rear of the casing.

A front by-pass or flue 16 extends downwardly across the front of the casing from the front of the hopper to a discharge spout 17. 1

drums and screens arranged in flue 20. ex-

tending from the front side of the boll breaker hopper to the top of the front by-pass 16.

A valve or damper 21 is hinged at the inter:

section of the flue 20 and the front bypass is arranged to be swung to close the entrance to the flue. and open the by-pass or to close the bypass and open the flue.

A. bottom flue 22 is arranged in the bottom of the casing extending from under the boll breaker to the bottom of the front by-pass and has a bottom series of drums and screens arranged therein.

At the bottom of the hopper 19 is, a chute i 23 leading to the rearend of the bottom flue 22. In this chute are mounted a pair of feed rollers 24, which turn inward as indicated by the arrows and draw the cotton from the hopper 1'9, and present it in a compressed bat to a boll breaking roller 25 having proj ecting. spikes or teeth.

At one side of the breaker rollers is pivoted a breaker bar 26 having teeth so arranged as to pass between the teeth of the roller 25. This bar is held to the roller by coiled springs 27, whereby the bar will yield downwardly and permit hard foreign articles, such as rocks and metal to pass without injuring the boll breakers. The particular type of breaker shown is in common use and as its details are not essential to the invention, they will not be described.

Picked cotton which is clean or has been previously cleaned may be bypassed through the cleaner by swinging the dampers l5 and 21 to the rear, as is shown in full lines in Fig. 1, thus closing the top by-pass 18 and the entrance to the flue 20, and opening the by-pass 16, whereby the cotton discharged from the hopper 14 is conducted directly to the spout Picked cotton having dirt and trash therein and not requiring the maximum cleaning the bottom series of drums.

Where the bolly' or snapped cotton is to be cleaned the damper 15 is swung rearwardly to close the top by-pass 18 and the damper 21 is swung forwardly to close the flue '16 and open the flue 20. By this arrangement the cotton is diverted into the flue and is acted upon by all ten of the drums. In boththe upper flue 20 and the bottom flue 22 concaved screens 28 are disposed transversely of the casing and are supported by cross rails 29. Drums 30 are mounted above each screen substantially concentric thereto. A curved screen 28 connects the rear side of the bottom of the chute 23 with the bottom rear screen of the bottom drum series.

The construction of the screens is very important. It has been the practice in the man ufacture of cotton cleaning machinery to use wire mesh orhardware cloth to form the screens. Such screens are rough and present unevensurfaces to the cotton. The cotton being pushed over the surfaces of the screens by the spiked drums is more or less disintegrated by such uneven surfaces and its fibre damaged and torn.

As is shown in Fig. 2 the screens employed by me are made of sheet metal and punched with staggered perforations 31, which may have any desired shape. After the cleaner has been used for a short period, the cotton dragging over the screens wears the same smooth and polishes their surfaces. Such screens offer little resistance to the passage of the cotton and do not injure it.

Each drum 30 has its cylindrical surface provided with spaced heaters or blades 32 extending longitudinally thereof as is shown best in Fig. 3. Between the blades thesurfaces are studded with longitudinal rows of radial pins or spikes 33. These pins pass in close proximity to the surfaces of the screens and have their outer ends rounded so as not to tear the coton. They may be arranged in rows or otherwise.

The first drum 30 at the entrance to the flue 20, is equipped with longer pins andblades than the remainder of the drums and its screen 28 is correspondingly deeper. This is done to better handle trashy cotton when it first enters the flue 20 and to prevent chokmg.

Transverse deflectors 34 hang from the top of the flue 22 between the drums of the lower series and act to prevent the cotton being carried by over the upper side of the drum. The top of the flue 20 is formed of doors 35 which may be swung upwardly to give access to the drums of the upper series.

The lower end of the flue 20 is formed into a hopper 13. A screw conveyer'36 is mounted in the bottom of the hopper 13 and a similar conveyor 36 is mounted in the bottom. of the hopper 13. The legs 11 support a frame 37 in which the casing 10 is mounted.

Each drum revolves upon a shaft 30' which.

is 'ournaled in suitable'boxes 38 secured to the frame as is'shown In F 1g. 5. Around each bearing an. opening 39 1s provided in the side of the casing to admit air, which" being sucked in will draw the lint away from the boxes, thus keeping the bearing clean.

The hoppers 13 and 13 are connected by trunks 40 to an air suction duct 41, whereby the dirt and trash are drawn out of the easing and also whereby an air suction is set up in the casing, the openings 39 providing inlets. The heater blades 32 tend to cast the cotton off the pins 33 and against the screens I 28, at the same time blow air through the cotton.

This air blowing co-acting with the air suction, causes the dirt and small particles of shale and trash to be blown and sucked through the perforations 31 of the screens. The cotton is suflicientlyagitated during its passage over the screens to release'substair.

tially all foreign matter.

The entire cleaner being constructed of metal except for a few minor parts, is substantially fire-proof. However repeated tests have shown that the cleaner will extinguish fire. This is due to the suction through the screens and the air blowing drums which beat the burning cotton down into the screens, where the suction snufls out the fire.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown the belt drives for the machine, the arrows indieating the direction-of rotation. A detailed description of the belts and pulleys is believed unnecessary owing to the obvious simplicity, however asa. guide, the same nu-.

merals have been applied to the pulleys as are used for the parts they drive. The feed rollers 24 are driven by a train of gears 24: and one of the rollers is drivenby a pulley 25 driven by the breaker roll 25.

The operation is as follows:

Assuming that the seed cotton is not to be by-passed either through the flue 16 or by way of the by-pass l8,'as hereinbefore described, the damper is retained in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 and the damper 21. is moved to the position shown in dotted lines. Seed cotton with its accompanying foreign matter, received in the hopper l i either from a dropper or other means length of the pins 33, the mass of cotton,-

burs, shale, dirt and the like is swept over the first screen and delivered to the next screen. Choking of the cotton at the entrance to the flue 20 is avoided by the long pins.

The cotton is urged over the successivescreens 28 of the upper series by the drums 30 thereof. As the cotton passes over the screens the fine shale, dirt and foreign particles are sucked through the perforations 31 of the screens and this action is accentuated by the air blown by the blades 32 of the drums.

lVhile brittle bars and the shale will be broken to some extent during the passage through the flue 20, bollies and snaps will not be eflectively handled, so the cotton is discharged from the lower end of the flue 20 into the hopper 19. The feed rolls 24 turning inward, as indicated by the arrows, en gage and compress the seed cotton into a bat whichis presented to the teeth of the rapidly rotating boll breaker roller 25.

The roller 25 co-acting with the breaker bar 26 hammers the bat and bolls, thus breaking without crushing. Hard material likely to injure the teeth will swing the bar 26 downwardly and thus pass through without harming these parts. The cotton passing the roller 25 slides down the screen 28 and is engaged by the rear drum 30 of the bottom series.

The cotton is carried forwardly by the bottom drums 30 over the bottom screens 28.

The deflectors St-prevent the cotton being thrown backward by the drums. The foreign perforations 31 of the screens 28 will collect in the hoppers 19 and 19 and will be carried out by the screen conveyors 36 and 36. The air suction acting through the trunks 40 will pull out of the casing the fine dust which would not otherwise readily settle in the hoppers i i The air suction and an air blowing features are very important. The air entering the casing openings 39 keeps the bearings38 free of lint and cools them, as well as facilitating the suction down through the screens.

This suction and air blowing provides a positive fire extinguisher, besides a most eflicient cotton cleanlng action.

Various changes in the size and shape of the different parts, as well as modifications and alterations,-may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim, is: 1. In a cotton cleaner, a top by-pass, a front by-pass, an upper drum flue, a hopper for discharging cotton into said by-passes and flue, and means for diverting the cotton from the hopper into either of the icy-passes or into the drum flue. 2. In a cotton cleaner, a top by-pass, a front by-pass, an upper drum flue, a hopper for discharging cotton into said bypasses and flue, means for diverting the cotton from the hopper into either of the by-passes or into the drum flue, and a bottom drum flue connected at its rear end with the rear end of the top by-pass and also with the rear end of the upper drum flue.

3. In a cotton cleaner, a top by-pass, a front by-pass, an upper drum flue, a hopper for discharging cotton into said by-passes and flue, means for diverting the cotton from the hopper into either of the by-passes or into the drum flue,,a bottom drum flue connected at its rear end with the rear end of the top by-pass and also with the rear end of the upper drum flue, and a boll breaker interposed between the bottom druin flue and the rear ends of the top bypass and the upper drum flue.

i. In a cotton cleaner, a metal drum flue, concaved screens in said'flue, drums in said flue rotating contiguous to said screens, said flue having air admitting openings above said screens, means on said drums for blowing air, means for creating an air suction under said screens, whereby the cotton is subjected to an air blowing and air suction action while passing through the flue and whereby fires in said flue are snuffed out.

5. I11 a cotton cleaner, a casing, a series of drums mounted for rotation in said casing,

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screens under said drums, bearing boxes at each side of the casing supporting said drums, and means for creating an air suction below said screens, the casing having openings contiguous to the bearing boxes-whereby-the air 'drawn in by the suction means removes cotton and obstructing matter from said boxes.

6. In a cotton cleaner, a casing, an upper drum flue in the casing, a bottom drum flue in the casing, the rear ends of said flues being connected, atop bypass in the casing extending over the upper drum flue and connected at its rear end with the rear end of the bottomflue, a front by-pass flue connectedat its upper end with the topby-pass and the mouth of the upper drum, and a discharge spout connected with the lower end ofthe :Eront flue and the front end of thebot- 7. In a cotton cleaner, an inclined casing, a hopper at the top of the casing, a top bypass'andafront by-pass formed in the casing and both diverging from the hopper, means for diverting inflowing cotton from the 'hopper into either of said by-passes,a drum flue inthe easing having a pluralty of drums and screens therein, said drum having its entrance below the hopper and intermediate the by-pas se's, and means for closing the entrance to the drumflue.

8. In a cotton cleaner, an inclined casing, a hopper at the top of the casing, a top bypass and a frontby-pass formed in the casing and both diverging from the hopper,means for diverting inflowingcotton from the hopper into either of said bypasses, a drum flue in the casing having a plurality'of drums and screens therein, said drum having its entrance below the hopper and intermediate the bypasses, means for closing the entrance to the drum flue, a bottom drum flue in the drums in said flue contiguous to said screen,

means on said drums for blowing air, and means'forcreating an air suction-undersaid screen, whereby thecotton is subjected to an air blowing and air suction While passing through the flue and whereby fires in said flue are snuffed out.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my'signature.

WILLIAM. L. HANCOCK. 

